Neji's Second Chance
by cmsully
Summary: Neji Hyuuga wasn't supposed to die that day on the battlefield... so the Kami decide to send him to a place where he will be needed to teach the lessons he had learned previously in his life. Meanwhile, Louise gets a familiar that's more than she ever expected... but is what she needed. Please read author's note at the end of the chapter!
1. Chapter 1

*I don't own Naruto, The Familiar of Zero, or any of their characters.

**Warning: **Spoilers for Naruto 614 ahead!

* * *

The Kami watched as the one known as Neji Hyuuga began to breathe his last breaths.

They had watched him ever since he had battled against the one they hoped would finally bring peace to their creation. Watched as he abandoned his hate for his Uncle's family, watched as he finally became the man his father hoped he would be.

Watched as he defied their plans for him by jumping in front of the spear meant for his cousin, whose death was supposed to finally spur their champion into the necessary sacrifices needed to defeat the two who threatened his world.

The chief Kami shook his head. No… he will _not_ let Neji Hyuuga die like this. But how to stop what has already begun? Yes, he and his fellow Kami could easily bring the boy back to life, but they all knew that to do so would invite Jashin to take control of the world. Jashin, that bastard Kami whose only wish was to destroy mankind and sow chaos amongst the rest of the world, would _never_ gain any more of a foothold than he already did if the other Kami had anything to say about it. Only those who bore the Rinnegan and willingly gave their lives in exchange could circumvent that very event from happening.

Suddenly, a pulse was felt in the air, one that was familiar to the elder Kami. Another world's god was signaling that one of its own creations was in the process of summoning what was known as a familiar, a being that would help guide one of the rarest of magic users into fully becoming one with their element… the element closest to the Kami's gift of chakra, the element known simply as Void.

That gave the chief Kami an idea on how to stop what was happening on their own world.

Glancing around, his fellow Kami nodded, agreeing with this change of plans. A smile filled the chief Kami's face as he sent a pulse back, signifying that he had someone in mind for the role. Yes… this would work quite nicely.

* * *

Neji Hyuuga couldn't see it, but he knew his friend's face was filled with shock and sorrow. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his cousin begin to cry while his uncle looked on with shock.

His life began flashing before his eyes as he leaned against the blonde shinobi. Unsurprisingly to him, his battle against Naruto in the Chunin exams was most prominent, especially the moment when Naruto answered his question of why he had fought so hard against what Neji had believed the blonde's destiny was.

"Why would you go this far for me…?" Naruto demanded. "Sacrificing your life…"

Feeling the seal upon his forehead begin to fulfill its purpose, Neji briefly considered how to answer him. He soon found his answer in the memory of the moment that changed his life forever, the moment where he had begun to truly turn into a son worthy of his father.

"Because…" he began, fighting through the pain to smile at Naruto despite the blood flowing freely from his mouth, "I was called a genius…"

The only child of Hizashi Hyuuga stopped talking then, his strength quickly slipping away as the seal started to take full effect. As his eyes started to fill with darkness, he thought, _Father… I finally understand… The freedom of being able to choose your own death… to protect your comrades._

Finally, he felt himself separating from his body and start to float upwards. Turning back and opening his closed eyes, he saw Obito taunting Naruto about his previous proclamation while tears fell freely from Hinata's face.

"Give him hell, Naruto," he whispered, smiling at the determination that was filling his friend's tear-filled eyes. Facing forward once more, he was surprised to see a bright white light filling the sky. Shielding his eyes, Neji squinted to see what was about to happen to him.

_I can't see…_

Suddenly, a voice he had not heard in a very long time filled his ears. At the same time, the light faded slightly, just enough for him to be able to see through it.

"Neji, my son…"

Lowering his hand, Neji gasped upon seeing none other than Hiashi's twin standing there with a sad smile on his face. "Father…?"

Stepping forward, Hizashi nodded. For the first time in over ten years, father and son embraced tightly.

"Father," Neji murmured, his voice tight with emotion. As he struggled to keep from bursting into tears, for a moment he felt like a little boy again.

As they separated, his father began, "Neji, I need you to listen to me." When he saw that he had his son's attention, he continued, "The Kami sent me to give you this message- your time to die has not yet come."

"Huh?" At this, Neji looked at his father with confusion.

Nodding, Hizashi continued, "However, you cannot return to your body… so the Kami are giving you your second chance at life somewhere else."

Upon finishing these words, suddenly he pushed his son gently. Neji was so shocked by what his father had said that the gentle push had the intended effect of forcing him to start falling backwards into a green portal that had (unbeknownst to Neji) formed behind him.

"Father, NO!" Neji protested, flinging a hand out towards the steadily shrinking figure of his father. However, even as he did so Neji knew it was to no avail.

"Neji… I am so proud of you, my son," was the final thing he heard from his father before his sight was enveloped by green.

"_FATHER!_"

* * *

The courtyard of the Tristain Academy of Magic was filled with second year students performing one of the most important ceremonies in their whole lives- the Summoning of the Familiars. Under the supervision of Mr. Colbert, the teacher in charge of this momentous occasion this year, the students performed the spell that summoned the being that would become their lifelong companion… their familiar.

This particular group of students already had an impressive showing, with one student summoning a bugbear and another summoning a rare young blue dragon. And soon…

"A salamander! Kirche summoned that?!" came the exclamation from several students, as said salamander released a small burst of flame from its mouth. Crouching next to the salamander was its summoner, a red-haired young woman whose outfit clearly showed that she was _well_ aware of her many assets.

Inspecting the newest familiar and its master, Mr. Colbert commented, "If you don't mind my saying so, you've obtained quite the familiar there, Miss Zerbst."

"Thank you, Mr. Colbert," the newly-identified Kirche replied, her voice reflecting the sexuality that was apparent in her appearance. "It fits my codename, Kirche the Fever, perfectly."

Nodding once, the lone teacher then turned towards the rest of the students. "Now, has everyone summoned a familiar?" he inquired from the group.

"No," replied Kirche, a smirk filling her face, "we still have Miss Vallière to go." As she finished, she turned towards a girl who seemed to be hiding behind one of her fellow students.

As the short pink-haired girl glowered at the one who ratted her out, Mr. Colbert looked towards the final student. "Miss Vallière, if you please?" he instructed, gesturing towards an available space.

Reluctantly, the singled-out student walked forward. As she finally stood in the designated space, her classmates started to whisper none too quietly amongst themselves.

"Louise the Zero!"

"What will _she_ summon?"

One girl remarked rather confidently, "There's no way she can summon anything! We'll just have another explosion, and nothing else!"

As her familiar made a noise that sounded suspiciously like laughing, Kirche commented snidely, "After all that boasting, you'll summon something more amazing than this little guy, right Louise?"

"Of course!" responded Louise somewhat childishly. Turning back to the task at hand, she clenched her wand tightly.

_Please work…_

Raising her wand, Louise closed her eyes and began, "My servant that exists somewhere in this universe!"

As one, her fellow students responded with, "Huh?"

"What's with that spell?" added a blonde girl named Montmorency, who held a tiny frog in her hands.

The resident playboy of the school, one Guiche de Grammont (whose familiar was a giant mole) sidled up to Montmorency as he said amicably, "Well, it's original."

Ignoring her fellow students, Louise continued, "My divine, beautiful, and powerful familiar!"

The summoner of the young blue dragon, a quiet blue-haired girl by the name of Tabitha, looked up from her book at this. It was hard to know, though, what she might have been thinking as she adjusted her glasses with one hand.

"I wish and assert from the bottom of my heart…" As she said this, Louise finally opened her eyes. She waved her wand as she finished, "Answer my guidance and appear!"

When she pointed her arm in front of her, however, a massive explosion filled the area. As they coughed from the smoke, some of the students remarked, "Just as expected…"

As the smoke dissipated slightly, Guiche finally was able to regain his breath. Noticing Montmorency on the ground, he quickly kneeled next to her as he inquired fretfully, "Are you alright, Montmorency?!" When she didn't respond, but rather stared at something, he added, "Something wrong?"

Montmorency's answer was to simply point in the direction she had been staring. Following, Guiche looked to see Louise standing in front of…

"A _human_?!"

* * *

A/N: Yeah... while I like the idea of this, this is actually my response to Kishimoto friggin' killing off Neji. So, I'm unsure if I should continue. What do you guys think? Yay, nay, what?


	2. Announcement

Hello, everyone!

You know, it's funny how even though I hate putting up an A/N as a chapter I find myself doing it more and more...

Anyway, the reason why I'm submitting this as a chapter is because due to lack of ideas on how to continue I'm going to be putting this story up for adoption.

I mean, I initially wrote this as a reaction to Neji dying, and while I can come up with interesting scenarios to play out in the storyline I just can't seem to come up with a decent plot anymore. With my other crossovers, I have so many ideas on how to continue (although translating those ideas into words isn't always an easy task...), but with 'Neji's Second Chance' I'm just not feeling it.

So, if anyone's interested please let me know via PM and we'll discuss it. I'm also making this offer on dA, but admittedly the story's not as popular over there.

Sorry for this, everyone... but I figure this way's better than just simply abandoning the story idea.


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